Apparatus for stacking, singulating, and dispensing pliable food products and methods therefor

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for handling food products comprises an alignment trough disposed at an incline for holding a stack of the food products at an incline. The alignment trough defines a portion of a passage upon which the food products travel. The stack defines a bottom food product. At least one movable member extends into the passage to control the separation of the bottom food product from the remainder of the stack by moving to provide clearance fro the food product to pass.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No.61/113,567, filed Nov. 11, 2008, which is incorporated herein in itsentirety by reference.

FIELD

This disclosure relates generally to systems that handle food products,and more specifically to an automated apparatus that stacks, singulates,and dispenses pliable food products.

BACKGROUND

Customers often prefer to purchase food products in packages containinga specific number of the food products. For example, a pizza mealpackage may contain a specified number of palm-size pizza crusts. Duringthe packaging process, the pizza crusts are typically grouped into thedesired number of pizza crusts for each package (such as three) andplaced in each package manually by hand. Such a manual process is timeconsuming and costly compared to an automatic process.

Many of these counted food products such as the pizza crusts, however,are thin and pliable. Additionally, the manufacturing process is suchthat each crust is a slightly different size and has an exterior withadherent properties. These features make it extremely difficult toprovide an automated system that aligns the crusts so they can beautomatically divided into groups with a specified number of crusts, andthen placed into packages. For instance, when too much pressure isapplied to a stack of the crusts, the crusts may stick together so thatattempting to remove one crust from the stack may destroy the crustand/or adjacent crusts. Also, the crusts may pop out of alignment when astack of the crusts are being conveyed through a turn or bend on thesystem. In this case, the forward momentum of the crust may cause thecrust to veer or jump away from the new desired course on the downstreampart of the turn. Therefore, what is desired is a system that stacks thecrusts, singulates the crusts for placement into groups of crusts of aspecified number, and dispenses the groups of crusts into packages whileavoiding the problems mentioned above.

SUMMARY

An automatic handling system or apparatus for stacking, singulating, anddispensing food products solves one or more of the problems mentionedabove. In one form, the food products are pliable, palm-size pizzacrusts, bread, or pitas that are pancake shaped, each with a thin edgeand generally flat faces. The food products can be stacked with the flatfaces against each other but have a tendency to stick to each other iftoo much force is applied to the stack. In one example form, thehandling system has a feed trough for conveniently loading a supply ofthe food products onto the system. The feed trough defines one or morechannels that hold an array of the food products upright on their thinedges for quick placement of a large number of the food products ontothe feed trough. The feed trough then conveys the supply of foodproducts to an inclined alignment trough that forms an inclined stack ofthe food products.

The alignment trough is inclined at a steeper angle relative to the feedtrough to form a smaller, lighter stack of the food products. Thealignment trough also has an alignment mechanism that applies a lateralforce on the food products in the stack to keep the food productsaligned in the stack. In one form, one or more rollers engage the foodproducts in the alignment trough to apply the lateral force. Thisengagement jostles, rotates, or otherwise shifts the food products sothat the food products do not jump out of alignment in the stack as thefood products turn from the more horizontal feed trough to the alignmenttrough. The engagement with the rollers also helps to limit the foodproducts sticking to each other. A sensor may be provided to sense thepresence of the food products on the alignment trough to activate aconveyor belt on the feed trough when the alignment trough is empty.

A separation device separates the single bottom food product from theremainder of the stack on the alignment trough. In one example form,this is accomplished with the use of partial vacuum to temporarily fixthe separation device to the bottom food product. The separation devicehas a cup with an interior and an opening to the interior that faces thealignment trough to engage the bottom food product. The interior of thecup includes at least one orifice that faces laterally to reducepressure in the interior of the cup. This orientation of the orificecauses the food product to receive weaker partial vacuum pressure at theopening of the cup sufficient to move the food product without damagingit.

This singulation process is assisted by a gate or frame positioned atthe bottom of the stack and that has a movable member to control theseparation of the bottom most food product from the remainder of thestack and through the frame. The movable member, in one form, is aresilient member configured to have sufficient resistance to deformationso that the stack cannot pass the resilient member due to its weightalone while an external force can still flex the resilient member toseparate the bottom most food product from the stack. The alignmenttrough is placed at an incline, as mentioned above, so that theresilient member does not need to withstand the full weight of thestack. The retraction of the bottom food product with the separationdevice causes the resilient member to flex or bend to provide clearancefor the food product to move through the frame. The resilient memberthen shifts back to its natural flat orientation in time to retain andhold the remainder of the stack.

The ability of the food products to elastically deform allows thesuction to be applied without damaging the food product, and reduces theouter diameter of the food product so that the resilient member does notneed to flex or shift as much to provide clearance for the food productto pass as with the full diameter of the food product.

The separation device moves the single food product from the alignmenttrough to a level even with a slide. A driver then engages the singlefood product and thrusts the single food product down the slide and to acollection point such as into a chute. Once placed in the chute, thefood products have been rotated 90 degrees so that the flat faces of thefood product generally extend horizontally. This orientation isconvenient for loading packages that require a vertical pile of the foodproducts. The process of moving a single food product into the chute isrepeated until a desired number of food products are stacked orcollected within the chute. The chute is then open to drop the group offood products into a package moving along a conveyor belt beneath thechute. This entire process may run continuously as needed and may run onmultiple machines or each machine may have multiple lanes to increasethe production level.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective side view of a handling system in accordance tothe present invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmented side view of a portion of the handling system ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic of the handling system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a front end view of a feed trough for the handling system ofFIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an upper perspective view of the feed trough of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a left perspective view of the handling portion of the systemof FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is an upper perspective view of the intersection of the feedtrough and an alignment trough of the system of FIG. 1 shown with troughplates removed;

FIG. 8 is another upper perspective view of the intersection of the feedtrough and an alignment trough of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 9 is yet another upper perspective view of the intersection of thefeed trough and an alignment trough of the system of FIG. 1 shown withtrough plates removed;

FIG. 10 is a fragmented, perspective side view of the alignment troughof the system of FIG. 1 with a stack of food products;

FIG. 11 is a fragmented, side close-up perspective view of the alignmenttrough of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 12 is a bottom view of the alignment trough of the system of FIG.1;

FIG. 13 is a side and front perspective view of the alignment trough forthe system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 14 is an upper elevational view taken at an angle of the alignmenttroughs for the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 15 is a fragmented, front perspective view of slides and a beltsystem for the alignment trough of the system of FIG. 1 and showingbelts partially transparent;

FIG. 16 is a fragmented, upper perspective view of slides, a belt systemfor the alignment trough, and chutes of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 17 is a fragmented, side and rear perspective view of the handlingportion of the system of FIG. 1 showing a sensor frame in an operableorientation;

FIG. 18 is a side and front fragmented, perspective view of the handlingportion of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 19 is an upper plan view of the alignment trough and resilientmember frame of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 20 is a side perspective view of the assembled separation mechanismwith a guide block and piston connection of the system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 21 is a cross-sectional, perspective side view of the assembledseparation mechanism of FIG. 20;

FIG. 22 is a side cross-sectional view of the handling portion of thesystem of FIG. 1;

FIG. 23 is a fragmented, front perspective view of a driver and slide ofthe system of FIG. 1;

FIG. 24 is bottom perspective view of a gate for chutes of the system ofFIG. 1; and

FIG. 25 is side perspective view of the chute, gate, and packages on aconveyor belt of the system of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, an apparatus 10 is provided for stacking,singulating, and dispensing pliable, thin food products 12 into groupswith a specified number of food products in each group. Generally, andin one example form, the apparatus 10 has a feed trough 14 forconveniently and quickly loading food products 12 onto the apparatus.The feed trough 14 conveys the food products 12 to an inclined alignmenttrough 16 that carries a shorter, lighter stack 18 of the food productsrelative to the full supply of food products on the feed trough 14. Thealignment trough 16 has an alignment mechanism 20 to apply lateral forceon the food products 12 to maintain the food products in the stack 18. Asensor 22 is positioned above the alignment trough 16 to activate aconveyor belt 54 on the feed trough 14 when a low amount of foodproducts 12 are present in the alignment trough 16 (i.e., the alignmenttrough is not full).

A bottom food product 24 in the stack 18 is removed from the remainderof the stack 18 by a separation or singulation device 26. In one form,the separation device 26 uses partial vacuum to temporarily fix the foodproduct to the separation device 26. A movable member 28 (FIGS. 9 and13) at the bottom of the stack 18 only permits the separation device 26to move a specified number of food products 12 from the stack 18. In oneform, the bottom food product 24 is moved from the stack 18 one at atime. To facilitate this, the alignment trough 16 is inclined so thatthe movable member 28 does not hold the full weight of the stack 18.

The separation device 26 moves the bottom food product 24 to a slide 30,and a driver 32 engages the bottom food product 24 to move the bottomfood product 24 down the slide and to a collection point 34, such aschute 36. When the separation device 26 removes food product from thestack 18 one at a time, the separation device 26 and driver 32 repeatthis process for a specified number of times to place a desired numberof the food products 12 in the chute 36. Once a specified number of foodproducts 12 are placed in a chute 36, the chute 36 is opened and thepile or group of food products 12 drop into a package 38 moving along aconveyor belt 40 under the chutes 36. A controller 42 may be used tocontrol the different automatic devices and mechanisms as shownschematically on FIG. 3.

Now in more detail, in one form, the food products 12 are pliable,palm-size pizza crusts, breads, or pitas that are pancake shaped, eachwith a thin edge 44 and a generally flat face 46 (indicated on FIG. 4).The food products 12 can be stacked with the flat faces 46 against eachother but have a tendency to stick to each other if too much force isapplied to the stack.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 4 and 5, the feed trough 14 includes a table 48with at least one, but here multiple elongate channels or lanes 50. Eachchannel 50 is generally U-shaped and formed by elongate, metal orplastic sidewalls 52 and a conveyor belt 54 at the bottom of eachchannel 50 (best seen in FIG. 4). The conveyor belts 54 are operablyinterconnected at a driving end 64 of the feed trough 14 by wheels 56 todrive belts 58 which are, in turn, driven by a drive shaft 60 from aconveyor belt motor 62. The motor 62 may be controlled by controller 42and/or may be operated independently. The table 48 also includes a frame66 with legs to hold the channels 50 in a desired orientation.

The channels 50 are shaped so that a large supply of multiple foodproducts 12, supplied in packs of twenty for example, can be quicklylaid horizontally in the channels 50 either by machine or manually. Thesidewalls 52 of the channels 50 hold the food products on their thinedges 44 so that the generally flat faces 46 of the food products 12extend generally vertically. In one form, the channels 50 have a slightincline (as shown by the dash line indicated at X on FIG. 1), such as 20degrees from horizontal in one example, so that the last food product 12(i.e., closest to motor 62) in a line of food products in a channel 50will not fall over and jam the channel. The conveyor belts 54 may be onwhile the feed trough 14 is being loaded. The conveyor belts 54 rotatetoward a handling end 68 of the feed trough 14, opposite the driving end64 of the feed trough 14, to provide the food products 12 to thealignment trough 16.

Referring to FIGS. 6-11, a support frame 70 holds the alignment troughs16, the separation devices 26, the slides 30, the drivers 32, and thechutes 36. The support frame 70 is connected to the handling end portion68 of the feed trough 14 to position each conveyor belt 54 at an upperportion 72 of one of the alignment troughs 16.

Referring to FIGS. 12-13, the alignment trough 16 generally defines alongitudinal axis or direction L, and has two sidewalls 74 and 76 onopposing lateral sides of a middle wall 78. This structure forms aportion of a longitudinal passage 80 along direction L and so that thefood product 12 is received amid the middle wall 78 and sidewalls 74 and76. The sidewalls 74 and 76 extend generally parallel to thelongitudinal axis L and are slanted downward as the sidewalls 74 and 76extend toward each other and the middle wall 78. The sidewalls 74 and 76may have an interior panel of plastic or other material to form aslippery surface upon which the food products 12 will easily side down.The upper portion 72 of each alignment trough 16 has a groove 82 onbottom wall 78 to provide clearance for the conveyor belt 54.

In the illustrated form, the alignment trough 16 is inclined (FIG. 18),rather than simply forming a perfectly vertical chute, so that thesidewalls 74 and 76 and middle wall 78 hold some of the weight of thestack 18. The incline also is at a different angle from horizontal tothat of the feed trough 14 so that the size of the stack 18 held by thealignment trough 16 is limited, thereby limiting the total weight on thealignment trough 16. In one example, the alignment trough 16 extends at45 degrees from horizontal. This structure also reduces the weight thatis applied to the movable member 28 disposed at a lower end portion 84of the alignment trough 16 and that is used to control the motion of thefood products 12 in the stack 18 as explained in greater detail below.

The alignment trough 16 guides the stack 18 along the passage 80generally in the longitudinal direction L while the stack moves down dueto gravity. As the conveyor belt 54 moves the food products 12 onto thealignment trough 16 from the feed trough 14, the food products 12 changedirection to the sharper downward incline of the alignment trough 16.Either this forward momentum, or two or more food products 12 stickingtogether, may cause one or more of the food products to veer upward andout of alignment with the stack on the alignment trough 16. In order tomaintain the food products 12 in alignment with the longitudinaldirection L, or to shift a stray food product 12 back into alignment,the alignment mechanism 20 mentioned above applies a lateral force,relative to the longitudinal direction L, on the food products 12 in thealignment trough 16.

In one form, the alignment mechanism 20 may be disposed anywhere in thevicinity of the alignment trough 16 as long as it is positioned to applythe lateral force on the food products 12 (such as from above thealignment trough 16). In the illustrated form, however, the alignmentmechanism 20 has at least one roller, and here two rollers 86 and 88,respectively mounted at sidewalls 74 and 76, and specifically between asidewall 74 or 76 and the middle wall 78. Each roller 86 and 88 ismounted on an axle 90 that extends generally parallel to thelongitudinal direction L, and is mounted between a cross beam 92 and anupper end portion 94 of a respective sidewall 74 or 76. The rollers 86and 88 have an array of generally longitudinally extending grooves orflutes 96 to form an array of edges 98. So configured, the rollers 86and 88 have an axis of rotation R extending generally parallel to thelongitudinal direction L so that the edges 98 engage the thin edges 44of the food products 12 to move the food products laterally. This actioncauses the food products 12 to rotate and/or shift laterally back andforth, jostling the food products, and limiting one food product fromsticking to an adjacent food product so the food products stay inalignment in the stack 18. To alleviate the alignment problems mentionedabove, the at least one roller extends at least along a portion of theupper half 100 of the alignment trough 16 but may extend only on aportion of the upper half 100.

Referring to FIGS. 6 and 15, to rotate the rollers 86 and 88, a rollercontrol motor 102 may be mounted on a side of the support frame 70 torotate a roller drive belt 104, and may be controlled by controller 42.A casing for the support frame 70 is shown as transparent.

Referring to FIGS. 14-16, the roller drive belt 104 rotates a rotatablepost 106, which in turn, rotates a transfer belt 108. The transfer belt108 is wrapped around the post 106 and a rotatable post 112 that drivesthe transfer belt for the next lane 50. The transfer belt 108 alsoengages a rotatable drive wheel or gear 114 which operably engages therollers 86 and 88. The drive gear 114 has an outer rim 115 for engagingand rotating the rollers 86 and 88. Specifically, an annular groove 117radially and interiorly set back from the rim 115 operably engages thetransfer belt 108, while the outer surface of rim 15 engages the rollers86 and 88.

In one alternative, the rim 115 on the drive gear 114 engages therollers 86 and 88 by friction only so that only when the stack 18 onalignment trough 16 is sufficiently heavy, the rollers 86 and 88 pressonto the drive gear 114 with sufficient force to rotate the rollers 86and 88. Otherwise, the rollers 86 and 88 are positioned to always rotatewhen the roller motor 102 is on. Thus, the roller motor 102 may simplyhave its own on/off switch or may be turned on by controller 42.

The groove 117 and/or transfer belt 108 may have teeth or surfacetreatment to increase the friction between the drive gear 114 and thetransfer belt 108. The transfer belt 108 may also be positioned around atension or positioning wheel 110 to control the tension in the transferbelt 108 and/or to maintain a return section of the transfer belt 108away from the drive gear 114.

With this configuration, each alignment trough 16 has its own post 106,transfer belt 108, tension wheel 110, and drive gear 114 to rotate therollers 86 and 88 on the alignment trough 16. Thus, the drive belt 104and transfer belts 108 are arranged in a chain where the post 106,located on a right side of each lane 50 for example, rotates that lane'stransfer belt 108 and drive gear 114 as well as the post 106 on theright side of the adjacent lane 50. This structure rotates the rollers86 and 88 in the same direction. In order to accommodate this chain anda single drive rotating the belts, the lanes 50 may be different lengthsand the alignment troughs 16 may extend at a different angle relative tothe lanes 50 to fit the belts among and around the other structure inthe system 10 and to angle the gear wheels 114 in order to engage therollers 86 and 88.

Referring again to FIG. 2, during operation, the sensor 22 is positionedin the vicinity of the alignment trough 16 to detect whether or not foodproduct 12 is present on the alignment trough 16. The sensor 22 maycommunicate either directly with the conveyor belt motor 62 orcontroller 42 to activate the conveyor belt 54 to feed the alignmenttrough 16 when it is low of food products.

Referring to FIGS. 17-18, the sensor 22 is mounted on a sensor frame 116that is rotatable about a pin 118 and away from the alignment trough 16as shown by arrow A (FIG. 2) and into a cleaning orientation as shown inFIG. 18 for cleaning the machine 10. The frame 16 has two generallyparallel main members 120 and 122 that are curved to extend above andalong the stack 18 on the alignment trough 16 and above the foodproducts 12 at the handling end portion 68 of the feed trough 14. Thecurvature of the main members 120 and 122 may also assist to maintainthe food products 12 in alignment.

A gap 124 is formed between the main members 120 and 122, and a bracket126 spans the gap 124 at a distal end portion 128 of the frame 116. Inthe operating position as shown in FIGS. 2 and 17, the bracket 126 holdsthe sensor 22 and also pivotally holds a biased activation lever arm130. The lever arm 130 can be biased by a biasing device, such as a coilor leaf spring at the bracket 126 for example, to bias a proximal end132 of the lever arm 130 through gap 124. This causes the proximal end132 to engage with the food products 18 as the food products move alongthe alignment trough 16 as shown by arrow B (FIG. 2). As each foodproduct hits the lever arm 130, the lever arm 130 pivots, and a distalend 134 of the lever arm moves up and down in front of sensor 22 toindicate the presence and absence of a food product 12 as shown by arrowC (FIG. 2). The sensor 22 then sends a signal to the controller 42 orthe conveyor belt motor 62 to activate the rollers 86 and 88.

Referring to FIGS. 10-13 and 19, the handling apparatus 10 also has atleast one movable member 28, as mentioned above, extending into thepassage 80 to control the separation of the bottom food product 24 fromthe remainder of the stack 18. In one example form, the at least onemovable member 28 comprises a resilient member 136.

The resilient member 136 is positioned within a generally flat gate orframe 138 in the proximity of the alignment trough 16, and morespecifically, at the lower end portion 84 of the alignment trough 16 orother place along the alignment trough 16 as long as the frame 138 isbelow the stack 18 and the bottom food product 24. The frame 138 definesan opening 140 through which the food product 12 passes along passage 80and longitudinal direction L. The at least one resilient member 136 hasone portion 142 connected to the frame 138 and a free end portion 144extending to cover a portion of the opening 140.

In the illustrated form, the opening 140 is circular and has a diameterd (FIG. 19) that is sufficiently large to permit a range of sizes offood products through opening 140. In one example, the opening 140 isabout 4.25 inches to accommodate food products 12 with a diameter D ofabout 3.0 to 3.4 inches. In the illustrated form, a single sheet 148 ofresilient material has a central cut-out 150 in the shape of a cross(although many other shapes are contemplated) to form a plurality ofresilient members 136 that extend to cover a different portion of theopening 140. Here, each resilient member 136 has two perpendicular sides152 and 154 forming the cross-shape and a beveled corner 156 between thetwo sides 152 and 154 and facing the center of opening 140. The singlesheet 148 is fastened between a front panel 158 and a back panel 160forming the frame 138.

It will be appreciated that the resilient members 136 may be provided inseparate pieces, and more or less than four resilient members 136 may beused, as long as the movement of the food products 12 is properlycontrolled. Also, while the frame 138 completely encloses the opening140, other configurations are possible where, for example, the frame 138merely extends on one or more sides of a generally defined space for thefood products to travel through as long as the resilient member 136 canbe placed under the food products 12 to control their motion.

In the illustrated form, the resilient member 136 is sufficientlyresistant to deformation to prevent the bottom food product 24 frompassing the at least one resilient member 136, and through frame 138,due to the weight of the stack 18 alone. However, the resilient member136 also is capable of elastic deformation to deform substantiallyelastically to a sufficient degree to permit the bottom food product 24to pass the resilient member 136, and through the frame 138, when anexternal force other than the weight of the stack 18 is applied to thebottom food product 24. In one form, the resilient member 136 is aflexible piece of rubber or plastic, such as a 1/16 inch thick piece ofurethane, as one example. With the proper material and dimensionsdescribed, the resilient member 136 has sufficient resiliency to permitonly a specified number of food products to pass at a time. In oneexample, the resilient member 136 only permits one food product 24 topass at a time.

More specifically, the separation device 26 pulls the bottom foodproduct 24 longitudinally away from stack 18 and onto or toward theresilient member 136. As the separation device 26 then pulls the foodproduct 24 through the openings 140 and 150, the free end portions 144of the resilient members 136 flex or deform downward and away from thecenter of opening 140 as the food product 24 bends inward, effectivelyreducing its outer diameter from the predetermined maximum diameter D.The bending of the food product 24 to a reduced diameter may permit thefood product 124 to pass the resilient members 136 with less flexing ofthe resilient members. This may permit the resilient members 136 to haveincreased resistance to deformation to hold the remainder of the stack18. Thus, once the single bottom food product 24 passes the resilientmembers 136, the resilient members 136 snap back to their original,generally flat orientation in time to hold the remainder of the stack18.

Referring to FIGS. 20-23, in the illustrated example the separationdevice 26 reciprocates: it advances to temporarily fix the bottom foodproduct 24 to the separation device, and retracts to pull the bottomfood product 24 from a remainder of the stack 18 and to place the foodproduct 24 level with the slide 30. In one form, the separation device26 is temporarily fixed to the bottom food product 24 by a partialvacuum or negative pressure.

In more detail, the separation device 26 includes a housing or guideblock 162 that has a flange 164 for securing a piston cylinder 166 tothe guide block 162. The guide block 162 is mounted on the support frame70 at an orientation so that a front end portion 168 of the guide block162 faces the frame 138 and movable member 28. A hollow shaft 170extends through the guide block 162 and has an end portion 172 thatforms at least one wall but here two curved stabilizing walls 174 and176 that are spaced circumferentially from each other. A tubular core178 and the stabilizing walls 174 and 176 extend longitudinally anddistally from a bottom wall 184 that extends outwardly and radially fromthe shaft 170. The core 178 is interiorly spaced from the stabilizingwalls 174 and 176.

A cup 180 is mounted on the core 178 interiorly and concentrically tothe stabilizing walls 174 and 176. A nozzle 182 is also mounted on thecore 178 and within the cup 180. In the illustrated form, the nozzle 182has a cylindrical base 186 that covers the core 178, and the cup 180 hasa proximal, annular rib 188 received by an annular groove 189 on thenozzle 182 so that the cup 180 is mounted on the nozzle 182. The nozzle182 may be fixed to the core 178 by friction fit, adhesive, welding,fasteners, and the like. The nozzle 182 may also have an upper surface183 with a design to prevent the food product from sticking to thenozzle such as with an indented ‘X’.

A flange 185 extends from the exterior of one of the sidewalls 174 or176 to be fixed to a reciprocating piston rod 192 extending from thefixed piston cylinder 166. With this structure, activation of the pistoncylinder 166 causes the piston rod 192 to move forward a predeterminedset distance, which translates the shaft 170 forward through the guideblock 162. The advancement of the shaft 170 advances the stabilizingwalls 174 and 176, core 178, nozzle 182 and cup 180 toward the movablemember 28 until the stabilizing walls 174 and 176 and the cup 180 extendat, or slightly through, the movable member 28 and engage the bottomfood product 24 on the alignment trough 16. In one form, the stabilizingwalls 174 and 176 and the bottom wall 184 have cut-off straight sides187 so that the front end view (FIG. 23) of the front end portion 172 isgenerally rectangular or obround. This shape permits the front endportion to fit within the cross-shaped opening 150 defined by theresilient member 136 as well as a groove 210 on slide 30 described inmore detail below.

In order to temporarily fix the cup 180 to the bottom food product 24 bypartial vacuum, the hollow shaft 170 is fluidly connected to a vacuumdevice (such as a pump) 190 (FIG. 3). Specifically, the guide block 162has a vacuum inlet 260 fluidly connected to the vacuum device 190. Theinlet 260 opens to an interior chamber 262 on the guide block 162. Holes202 on the shaft 170 provide partial vacuum to nozzle 182 and within cup180 only when the holes 202 of the shaft 170 are within the chamber 262.With this structure then, the cup 180 only obtains partial pressure asthe shaft 170 axially advances and retracts the holes 202 throughchamber 262. Once the holes 202 are retracted passed the chamber 262 inthe guide block 162, the partial vacuum pressure is cut off to the holes202, and in turn, the cup 180.

The nozzle 182 has at least one orifice 194 that opens to the interior196 of the cup 180. Air is suctioned from the interior 196 of the cup180, through nozzle 182 and the shaft 170 to the vacuum device 190 toreduce the pressure in the cup 180 when the cup 180 is approaching,engaging, or retracting with the bottom food product 24. Here, fourobround orifices 194 face radially outward in four different lateraldirections from the nozzle 182 in the interior 196 of the cup 180 sothat the partial vacuum or suction first reduces pressure in the cup 180in a lateral direction. The suction through a main opening 198 definedat the upper rim 200 of the cup 180 is therefore indirect and weakenedso that the food product 24 is not impacted by the direct suction thatcould damage the food product. The vacuum device 190 provides pressureat 29 mmHg while the pressure at the rim 200 impacting the food product24 is reduced to about 5-6 mmHg.

It will be appreciated that alternatively the orifices 194 may be placedon a sidewall forming a portion of the cup 180 and face radially inward,for instance, instead of being on the core 178 and facing radiallyoutward. In one form, the orifices 194 may be positioned anywhere in theinterior of the cup 180 as long as the full force of the partial vacuumdoes not impact the food products.

The controller 42 may reciprocate the piston 166 of the separationdevice 26 while the vacuum device 190 remains on. Otherwise, thecontroller 42 may also control the vacuum device 190 to coordinate theoperation of the two so that the vacuum may be on only as needed.Alternatively, the piston 166 and vacuum device 190 could operate on itsown shared control or the piston 166 may have a separate control thatcoordinates largely by sensors.

Referring to FIGS. 22-23, in operation, the piston 166 is set to advancethe shaft 170 a predetermined, fixed distance so that the rim 200 of thecup 180 engages the bottom food product 24 (as shown in dashed line onFIG. 22) through frame 138. In the illustrated form, the vacuum isapplied as the cup 180 advances and before the rim 200 engages thebottom food product 24 to pull the food product onto the rim 200. Thecup 180 extends slightly above upper surfaces 204 of the stabilizingwalls 174 and 176 to engage the food product 24 first. In one form, thecup 180 may be made of plastic and have one or more bellows 201 so thatthe cup 180 may slightly compress on one or more sides to morecompletely conform to the shape of a non-symmetrical bottom food product24 as the cup 180 engages the bottom food product.

Since the cup 180 has a smaller diameter than the food product 24, acentral portion of the food product 24 will be pulled toward the cup 180before its outer rim, urging the food product to curve. The rim 200 alsois curved and concave so that the food product 24 is further urged intoa curved bowl shape as it is pulled onto the rim 200 until it engagesand corresponds to the shape of the rim 200. The food product also thenengages the upper surfaces 204 of the stabilizing walls 174 and 176which provide more surface area to hold the food product steady on thecup 180 since the stabilizing walls 174 and 176 have a wider outerdiameter than the cup 180. The shaft 170 and the front end portion 172with cup 180 then retract, pulling the food product 24 with it.

As the now bowl shaped food product engages the resilient member 136 andmoves downward through frame 138, the free end portions 144 of theresilient member(s) 136 flexes downward to provide clearance for thefood product 24 to pass. As mentioned above, this may be assisted by thereduced outer diameter of the food product 24 so that the resilientmember 36 need not flex to the extent needed for the full diameter ofthe food product. Once the food product is retracted passed theresilient member 136 and through the frame 138, the free end portions144 of the resilient member 136 shift back to their natural, more flatpositions before the remainder of the stack 18 can drop or advance pastthe resilient member 136. The resilient member 136 then holds theremainder of the stack 18 until the cup 180 engages the next bottom foodproduct 24.

Once cleared of the frame 138, the front end portion 172 of shaft 170,and the food product 24 it is holding, is retracted until the foodproduct is level with slide 30. As mentioned above, the slide 30 has agroove 210 shaped to provide clearance for the front end portion 172 tomove up and down passed the slide 30. In one form, while the groove 210is wider than the front end portion 172 of the shaft 170, the foodproducts 24 are wider than the groove 210 so that the slide 30 retainsthe food product 24 while the front end portion continues to retractbelow the slide 30. As the food product 24 approaches or engages theslide 30, the holes 202 on shaft 170 retract passed the chamber 262 andthe vacuum is shut off, releasing the food product 24 from the cup 180.The food product then lays upon slide 30 detached from the separationdevice 26 and ready to be pushed down the chute 30 by the driver 32.Once the driver 32 moves the food product out of the path of theseparation device 26, the cup 180 can be advanced again.

Referring again to FIGS. 17-18 and 23, an upper portion 206 of slide 30is connected to a frame support 208 which in turn is supported by frame70. The frame support 208 also supports the driver 32. The upper portion206 of the slide 30 is generally planar and is sloped at an angle ordirection generally perpendicular to the longitudinal direction Ldefined by the alignment trough 16. In one form, the slide extends 45degrees from horizontal and 90 degrees from longitudinal axis L. Theupper portion 206 also defines the groove 210 mentioned above to provideclearance for the front end portion 172 of the separation device 26. Inone form, the groove 210 may be generally U-shaped or any other shapethat retains the food product 24 as the separation device 26 passes.

A lower portion 212 of the slide 30 rests on the chute 36 and isslightly curved to change the orientation of the food products 24. Thus,the lower portion 212 drops the food products into the chute 36 whilethe generally flat sides 46 of the food products 12 extend generallyhorizontal. The upper surface 268 on the slide 30 that receives the foodproduct 12 may be serrated or may have protrusion patterns so that thefood products 12 do not stick to the slide.

Referring to FIGS. 2, 18, and 23, to initially move the food product 24down the slide 30 from the vicinity of the groove 210 and toward chute36, the driver 32 extends and reciprocates on frame support 208 andparallel to a second direction (shown by arrow S) defined by the upperend portion 206 of the slide 30. Direction S is the initial direction ofmotion for the food product 24 sitting on the slide 30. The framesupport 208 may have curled in edges 209 to extend above the driver 32to maintain the driver along direction S. The driver 32 may also beconnected to, and be driven by, a piston 270 that may be controlled bycontroller 42.

The driver 32 includes an engagement end portion 214 for engaging thefood product 24 sitting on the slide 30. In one form, the engagement endportion 214 has two prongs 216 and 218 extending forward from a mainportion 274 and defining a gap 220 therebetween. The gap 220 eitheraligns with, or is wider than, a width of the groove 210 so that the twoprongs 216 and 218 translate axially off to the sides 222 and 224 of thegroove 210. This ensures that the driver 32 does not block the groove210 and interfere with the operation of the separation device 26. In oneform, the driver 32 has an outer width corresponding to the width of theslide 30, and the slide 30 may have upturned side walls 272 to maintainthe prongs 216 and 218 on the slide 30 while the prongs reciprocate. Thewalls 272 also prevent the food product 24 from sliding off of the slide30.

At least one of the prongs 216 and 218 has a distal front end 226 with anotch 228 for receiving the food product 24. The notch 228 is set backfrom a forwardly extending overhang 230 that is placed over the foodproduct 24 as the driver engages the food product and thrusts it forwardto resist forces that may cause the food product 24 to lift up from theslide 30. The distal front end or ends 226 may also be concavely curvedto generally match the curvature of the thin edges 44 of the foodproducts 12.

The reciprocation of the driver 32 is timed to advance to engage thefood product 24 and push the food product down the slide 30 each timethe separation device 26 moves a food product 24 onto the slide 30 fromthe alignment trough 16.

It will be appreciated that instead of a forward thrusting fork orprongs, the driver 32 may use other devices that either push or pull thefood product down the slide. Such devices may run along the slide anduse friction or a conveyor belt, for example. The slide 30 may also besufficiently steep so that gravity alone is sufficient to move the foodproduct 12 down the slide.

While the operation for one lane 50 has thus far been described, it willbe understood that the same operation and structure may be appliedsimilarly to all of the lanes 50.

Thus, in the illustrated form, the handling system 10 changes theorientation of the food products 12 a full 90 degrees from an upright orvertical orientation for easy loading of the feed trough 14 to a flathorizontal orientation convenient for loading the food products ontopackages 38 on a conveyor belt 40 that hold a vertical pile of the foodproducts 12. The alignment trough 16 forms the stack 18 piled in a firstdirection or longitudinal direction L. Holding the stack 18 at anincline causes the generally flat face 46 of each food product 12 in thestack to be inclined to generally face downward. The single bottom foodproduct 24 is then isolated from the stack 18 in the first direction.The single food product 24 is then moved in the second direction Sdifferent from the first direction L to move the single food product toa collection point 34 or chute 36 while changing the orientation of thefood product 24 so that the flat face 46 of each food product 24 liesgenerally horizontally.

Referring to FIGS. 15, 18 and 24-25, the chute 36 forms a chamber 232 atthe bottom of each slide 30 for receiving the food products 12 from theslide. The chamber 232 has a diameter larger than the largest possiblediameter of the food product 12. A bottom 234 of the chamber 232 isformed by an intermittently opening door or gate 236. The gate 236 isopen by a reciprocating device such as a piston 238 which may becontrolled by control 42, other controllers, or may have its owncontroller to be moved by specified timing or according to sensors. Inone form, the gate 236 is part of an elongate member 240, such as aplastic or metal plate, with an array of holes 242 sufficiently large topermit the food products 12 to drop through them. The holes 242 arespaced apart along the length of the elongate member 240 by solidportions 244 that have sufficient area to cover a bottom opening 246 ofeach chamber 232. The reciprocating device 238 slides the elongatemember 240 back and forth on a bottom 248 of the chute 36 to cover anduncover the bottom openings 246 of all of the chambers 232. It will beunderstood, however, that each chamber 232 may be formed by a separatechute 36, and the bottom 246 of each chamber 232 may be opened or closedwith a separate gate.

The process described above from the isolation of a food product 24 fromthe alignment trough 16 to placement of the food product 24 into thechute 36 is repeated until a specified number of food products areplaced in one or more of the chambers 232. Once the specified number offood products 12 is placed in the chambers 232, and in one form alignedin a vertical pile or group, the gates 236 are open to permit the pileto drop the specified number of food products from the chute 36together. The chambers 232 are positioned over one or more of theconveyor belts 40 that convey the packages 38 to receive the foodproducts 12. The packages 38 may be positioned directly under thechambers 36 to receive the vertical pile of the specified number of foodproducts 12.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that a wide variety ofmodifications, alterations, and combinations can be made with respect tothe above described embodiments without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention, and that such modifications, alterations, andcombinations are to be viewed as being within the ambit of the inventiveconcept.

1-14. (canceled)
 15. An apparatus for handling pliable food productseach having a thin edge and a generally flat face, the apparatuscomprising: a feed trough configured to hold the food products uprighton their thin edges so that the flat faces of the food productsgenerally extend vertically; an alignment trough configured to receivethe food products from the feed trough and being inclined relative to ahorizontal axis to hold a stack of the food products at an inclinerelative to the horizontal axis so that the generally flat face of eachfood product in the stack is inclined to generally face downward; aslide configured to receive the food products from the alignment troughand to direct the food products to an orientation where the flat face ofthe food products generally extend horizontally; and a chute with anintermittently open bottom for collecting a specified number of the foodproducts from the slide and dropping the specified number of foodproducts from the chute together. 16-20. (canceled)
 21. The apparatus ofclaim 15, wherein the feed trough includes at least one elongate channelhaving side walls configured to contact the thin edges of the foodproducts such that the flat faces of the food products face in adirection of movement of the food products along the at least oneelongate channel.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein the at leastone elongate channel is operatively connected to at least one conveyorbelt operatively connected at a driving end of the feed trough to atleast one wheel operatively connected to a drive shaft of a conveyorbelt motor to facilitate movement of the food products along the atleast one elongate channel.
 23. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein theat least one elongate channel is inclined relative to the horizontalaxis such that the food products move generally upwards along the atleast one elongate channel toward the alignment trough.
 24. Theapparatus of claim 15, wherein the alignment trough has an upper portionincluding a groove on the middle wall to provide clearance for aconveyor belt.
 25. The apparatus of claim 15, wherein the alignmenttrough generally defines a longitudinal axis and includes two side wallsand a middle wall between the two side walls, the middle wall and theside walls slidingly engaging the thin edges of the food products in thestack.
 26. The apparatus of claim 25, wherein the alignment trough isinclined relative to the horizontal axis and wherein the longitudinalaxis defined by the alignment trough is not parallel relative to avertical axis perpendicular to the horizontal axis.
 27. The apparatus ofclaim 25, wherein the flat face of each of the food products in thestack of the food products in the alignment trough is inclined relativeto the horizontal axis, perpendicular to the longitudinal axis definedby the alignment trough, and not perpendicular to a vertical axisperpendicular to the horizontal axis.
 28. The apparatus of claim 15,wherein the feed trough and the alignment trough are inclined atdifferent angles relative to the horizontal axis, and wherein the flatfaces of the food products in the feed trough and the flat faces of thefood products in the alignment trough are at different angles relativeto each other and relative to the horizontal axis.
 29. The apparatus ofclaim 15, wherein the alignment trough is inclined relative to thehorizontal axis at an angle greater than the feed trough.
 30. Theapparatus of claim 29, wherein the feed trough is inclined relative tothe horizontal axis at an angle of about 20 degrees and the alignmenttrough is inclined relative to the horizontal axis at an angle of about45 degrees.
 31. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the alignment troughincludes an alignment mechanism configured to apply a lateral force onthe food products to maintain the food products in the stack, thealignment mechanism comprising at least two rollers including aplurality of edges disposed to engage side edges of the food productsand impart a lateral force on the side edges of the food products torotate the food products in the alignment trough.
 32. The apparatus ofclaim 31, wherein each of the at least two rollers has an axis ofrotation generally parallel to the longitudinal axis defined by thealignment trough and is mounted between at least one of the twosidewalls and the middle wall of the alignment trough.
 32. The apparatusof claim 31 wherein the alignment trough has an upper half and whereinthe at least two rollers extend only along the upper half.
 33. Theapparatus of claim 31 wherein the at least two rollers rotate in thesame direction.
 34. The apparatus of claim 31, further comprising aroller control motor configured to rotate the at least one rollers, theroller control motor being configured to be in communication with acontroller.
 35. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising a sensorpositioned above the alignment trough, the sensor being configured toactivate a conveyor belt on the feed trough when an amount of the foodproducts lower than a predetermined amount is detected in the alignmenttrough.
 36. The apparatus of claim 15, further comprising areciprocating separation device disposed and configured to advance totemporarily fix a bottom food product in the stack of the food productsin the alignment trough to the separation device, and retract to pullthe bottom food product from a remainder of the stack, and wherein theseparation device is temporarily fixed to the bottom food product by apartial vacuum.
 37. The apparatus of claim 36, wherein the separationdevice comprises a cup defining an interior with an opening facingtoward the alignment trough to engage the bottom food product, theinterior of the cup defining an orifice opening in a lateral directionfor reducing pressure within the cup.
 38. The apparatus of claim 37,wherein the cup comprises a cylindrical sidewall defining the interior,and a core extending within the sidewall, and wherein the orifice isdefined by at least one of the sidewall and the core.
 39. The apparatusof claim 36, wherein the separation device is configured to move thebottom food product separated from the remainder of the stack to aslide, and further comprising a driver configured to engage and move thebottom food product separated from the remainder of the stack down theslide to the chute.